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Categories: Ecology: Extinction, Geoscience: Earthquakes
Published Iceland's volcano eruptions may last decades
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists predict from geochemical data that Iceland is entering a new volcanic era that will last for decades, possibly centuries. Under an hour's drive from the country's capital city, the ongoing eruptions pose considerable risks for economic disruption, and they leave evacuated communities uncertain of a possible return.
Published Frog 'saunas' a lifeline for endangered frog populations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New biologist-designed shelters will help endangered frogs survive the devastating impacts of a deadly fungal disease by regulating their body temperature to fight off infections.
Published Boosting biodiversity without hurting local economies
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Protected areas, like nature reserves, can conserve biodiversity without harming local economic growth, countering a common belief that conservation restricts development. A new study outlines what is needed for conservation to benefit both nature and people.
Published Insecticides contributed to loss of butterflies across American Midwest, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Insecticide use is a major factor causing a decrease in the size and diversity of butterfly populations across the US Midwest, according to a new study.
Published Natural hazards threaten over three thousand species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Natural hazards can speed up the extinction process of land animals that have limited distribution and/or small populations. But there is hope to turn the negative development around, says researchers behind new study.
Published Restored rat-free islands could support hundreds of thousands more breeding seabirds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Archipelago case-study shows that removing invasive rats and restoring native vegetation could help bring back hundreds of thousands of breeding pairs of seabirds lost to tropical islands. Calculating that there are enough fish to sustain restored seabird populations should be an important consideration for restoration projects, scientists say. Restored seabird populations also provide huge boost to the health of surrounding coral reef ecosystems through restored nutrient cycles.
Published Nile perch invasion triggered genetic bottlenecks in Lake Victoria's endemic cichlids
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Newfound evidence reveals that the upsurge of the exotic Nile perch in Lake Victoria had long-lasting effects on the genetic diversity of various local cichlid species, report scientists. Through large-scale comparative genomic analyses, the researchers found concrete proof in the collective genome of multiple species that this artificially introduced perch decimated many local fish populations, causing a 'bottleneck effect.'
Published An earthquake changed the course of the Ganges: Could it happen again?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A major earthquake 2,500 years ago caused one of the largest rivers on Earth to abruptly change course, according to a new study. The previously undocumented quake rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River in what is now densely populated Bangladesh, which remains vulnerable to big quakes.
Published 'Lost' birds list will aid in protecting species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A group of scientists has released the first comprehensive list of birds that haven't been documented with sound or video in more than a decade.
Published Ancient polar sea reptile fossil is oldest ever found in Southern Hemisphere
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of scientists has identified the oldest fossil of a sea-going reptile from the Southern Hemisphere -- a nothosaur vertebra found on New Zealand's South Island. 246 million years ago, at the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, New Zealand was located on the southern polar coast of a vast super-ocean called Panthalassa. 'The nothosaur found in New Zealand is over 40 million years older than the previously oldest known sauropterygian fossils from the Southern Hemisphere.
Published Sharks have depleted functional diversity compared to the last 66 million years
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research has found that sharks retained high levels of functional diversity for most of the last 66 million years, before steadily declining over the last 10 million years to its lowest value in the present day.
Published The rotation of Earth's inner core has slowed, new study confirms
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The new study provides unambiguous evidence that the inner core began to decrease its speed around 2010, moving slower than the Earth's surface.
Published Estimating the energy of past earthquakes from brecciation in a fault zone
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In the same way that the number of rings in a tree can tell us its age, the characteristics of rocks such as breccia can tell us about the history of a region. The breccia around Ichinokawa Mine (located in Ehime prefecture) are of particular interest, as the mine is located south of the Median Tectonic Line. Researchers uncovered how breccia can provide valuable evidence to estimate the energy of past earthquakes in the area.
Published Specialist and migratory birds at greater risk under climate change
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Following decades of decline, even fewer birds will darken North American skies by the end of the century, according to a new analysis. The study examines the long-term effects of climate change on the abundance and diversity of bird groups across the continent as a whole while accounting for additional factors that put birds at risk.
Published Cascadia Subduction Zone, one of Earth's top hazards, comes into sharper focus
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study has produced the first comprehensive survey of the many complex structures beneath the seafloor in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. It is providing scientists with key insights into how future disasters may unfold.
Published Scientists 'read' the messages in chemical clues left by coral reef inhabitants
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source What species live in this coral reef, and are they healthy? Chemical clues emitted by marine organisms might hold that information. But in underwater environments, invisible compounds create a complex 'soup' that is hard for scientists to decipher. Now, researchers have demonstrated a way to extract and identify these indicator compounds in seawater. They found metabolites previously undetected on reefs, including three that may represent different reef organisms.
Published Flapping frequency of birds, insects, bats and whales described by universal equation
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, researchers report in a new study.
Published Breaking ground: Could geometry offer a new explanation for why earthquakes happen?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers are adding a new wrinkle to a long-held belief about what causes earthquakes in the first place.
Published Human activity contributed to woolly rhinoceros' extinction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered sustained hunting by humans prevented the woolly rhinoceros from accessing favourable habitats as Earth warmed following the Last Ice Age.
Published Wire snare removal in protected areas is labor-intensive but effective -- and essential to solving the Southeast Asian snaring crisis
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Snaring -- a non-selective method of poaching using wire traps -- is widespread in tropical forests in Southeast Asia. Snaring decimates wildlife populations and has pushed many larger mammals to local or even global extinction. Eleven years of data from ranger patrols in the Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam Saola Nature Reserves in Viet Nam show that intensive removal efforts are labour-intensive and costly but brought snaring down by almost 40 percent and therefore reduced imminent threats to wildlife. Further reductions were difficult to achieve despite continued removal efforts. Snare removal is therefore necessary but by itself not sufficient to save the threatened wildlife diversity in tropical forests, scientists conclude.